Virtual Tour

The Living Roof.  The lighter colored stone at the edges is for drainage.  The soil medium is 8 inches thick and contains 25% organic matter.  The straw matt is for surface soil retention.  The waffle like layer is on top of the base rubber seal.  The silt filter fabric is on top of the waffle to allow drainage.  The roof will be planted in the spring with a combination of native grasses and wildflowers.  The living roof reduces stormwater runoff, helps keep the building cool, and provides habitat for birds and insects.   

                                              

Strawbale Walls.  Wheatstraw (the stem of the wheat plant) is an agricultural waste product and readily available in Michigan.  The straw in the Willows walls is from the Lee and Rebecca Crosby Farm in Caro, Michigan.  The strawbales are stacked on edge like bricks and sewn with bale twine to the bamboo pins on the inside of the wall.  The bamboo used here was grown in Cleveland, Ohio.  The edges and seams between the bales are mudded first to help the wall become more rigid and prepped for spraying the earthen plaster.   The earthen plaster is made with lime and local clay, local sand, and water.  Once the first coat of plaster dries a second finish coat is applied by hand.  We used two kinds of interior finish plaster. The earthen plaster is made with only local clay,  local sand, and water.  The lime plaster is lime, local sand and iron oxide(a natural non-toxic yellow dye).  Our strawbale wall systems were built by the Fox Natural Building Co.  Chris Fox and his crew have pioneered this particular type of wall system.   Stacking the bales on edge, the bamboo pins, the flashing detail, and the locally sourced earthen plasters are all innovations that better suit the temperature and moisture conditions of the Great Lakes region.  Learn more at www.foxnaturalbuilding.com

    

Our 5th/6th grade students mudded this section of wall. 

  

 

           

Truth windows are a common architechtural feature in Strawbale buildings.  Truth windows show the "true nature" of the wall system.  They are beautiful and serve as an interpretive tool.

           

 

 

Solar Electricity.  We have a 3 kw solar photovoltaic array on the south roof. We are using a Michigan made Unisolar product which is laminated to the metal roof with an adhesive before the steel roof was put up.  The wires from this pv laminate connect to the building through the ridge vent. 

 

 

Passive Solar.  The Willows is oriented so that the long side of its trapezoidal shape is facind south to collect sunlight.  Light travels through the glass and changes to heat energy which is absorbed by the mass wall.  The mass wall is 10 inches thick and heat will be absorbed by the cement block and fieldstone and transmitted to the inside of the building.  The four windows in the middle are operable for fresh air and a generous portion of daylight

   

Solar Hot Water.  Flat plate solar collectors. more coming...